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Anti-trust move is fair, not targeted at foreign firms

By Xin Zhiming (China Daily) Updated: 2014-08-12 11:10

Few have accused the US of discriminating against the Internet giant or the European countries of weakening Microsoft's position and protecting local enterprises.

When it comes to China, the fault is put on Chinese regulators.

Admittedly, foreign investors have played an important role in China's economic take-off and growing maturity in the past three decades. They have created jobs, added to local revenues and expanded China's economic output. However, given their large numbers, it is not surprising that some of them have been involved in misconduct, such as monopoly and bribery - just as they have done in overseas markets.

If China does not conduct proper investigations into alleged law-breaching activities by black sheep, it would be unfair for law-abiding firms - both Chinese and foreign - in China.

The core issue, therefore, is whether the companies investigated have done anything wrong. It is appropriate and legitimate for China to scrutinize if there are signs of foul play in the Chinese market.

Over-interpretation of China's market order-maintaining regulatory moves would be both unfounded and misleading.

Those who accuse China of discriminating against foreign companies should look at previous anti-trust cases, involving major Chinese companies, including China Telecom and liquor makers Wuliangye Yibin Group and Kweichow Moutai. The latter two were fined as much as 449 million yuan ($72 million) in total for price-fixing.

It seems the number of Chinese companies investigated in anti-trust moves is smaller than that of foreign companies. But regulation should only be based on facts, not mathematics. It would be ridiculous to claim that China is favoring domestic players simply by comparing the number of companies under investigation.

Far more foreign companies are in a leading position in various domestic industries, such as auto-making, milk powder production, computer software and hardware, edible oil, cosmetics and high-end pharmaceuticals, to name but a few. It would not be surprising if some have taken advantage of their positions for illegal benefits.